In terms of QB contracts itās not that expensive at all, plus most of it is front loaded so will count little against the cap if Flynn is cut at the end of the season. Our QB play was brutal last year and it cost us dear. If either of these two step up Iād expect us go be very competitive and make a run for the play offs.
Our defense is undoubtedly a top 10 unit and hopefully the addition of Bruce Irvin will provide the much needed sacks. The linebackers will be strong as ever with rookie Bobby Wagner another guy to keep your eye on, we have the best young safety tandem in the NFL with Earl Thomas and Kam chancellor. The o line showed serious improvement in helping lynch turn on the beast mode. The WR corps does not look strong but if Sidney rice can regain fitness and Doug Baldwin continues to impress Iām sure a decent QB can get improvements out of our passing game.
Former Patriots receiver Tiquan Underwood arrived in the Buccaneersā locker room on Wednesday and was thrilled to see a sparkling ring waiting for him in a classy wooden box.
āWhen I got released, Bill kept his word. He said if we win the Super Bowl, youāll get a ring, and if we donāt youāll get a ring,ā Underwood relayed Thursday after a joint practice with the Buccaneers and Patriots. āThey kept their word. After practice yesterday, it was waiting for me.ā
Underwood, whose release the night before the Super Bowl generated national headlines, reflected on his time with the Patriots upon first seeing the 2011 AFC Championship ring.
āAll that hard work you put into it, itās such a long football season, it was a neat gift,ā he said. āIt wasnāt the one we wanted, but there are a lot of memories with that ring.ā
Underwood was passing through the Buccaneersā weight room this morning when he bumped into Belichick, who was working out.
"We spoke a little bit and I just said 'thanks for everything
In all seriousness though, have massive respect for Underwood. Must be a horrible feeling to be cut the week of a superbowl, but he handled it with a lot of class and dignity and I think the mutual respect shines through. Decent from BB to sort him out, as most of the stories about him are all doom and gloom and being a miserly aul bastard, but those type stories are more interesting than these ones. Hope Tiquan does well with the Bucs.
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Another deeply impressive performance from Russell Wilson last night and he looks certain to be the Seahawks QB on opening day. He looks a bit special, so get him into your fantasy team as your QB2 pronto.
The Seahawks announced on Tuesday that rookie third-rounder Russell Wilson would start their third preseason game. Wilsonās been very impressive against second- and third-string defenses during the preseason, but itās certainly a surprise that he appears to have the upper hand on free-agent pickup Matt Flynn for the starting job in Seattle. If Wilson makes it to Week 1 as the starter, heāll join Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, Brandon Weeden, and Ryan Tannehill as one of five rookie quarterbacks starting on the leagueās season opener.
Itās easy to understand why a team might want to turn to their rookie quarterback from day one. It creates excitement within the fan base, instills confidence in the young guy, and begins the arduous-but-necessary process of getting the rookie the needed reps against first-string NFL pass defenses in meaningful action. For the Colts and Redskins, it was the obvious choice. The Browns were committed to Weeden because heās already old enough to be a Grantland writer, too, but the decision to anoint Tannehill as the Week 1 starter and the possibility that Wilson will follow are curious and dangerous.
If preseason football really doesnāt matter, then why are teams making decisions about their starting quarterbacks based on how they perform during preseason games? You can argue that they also look better in practice, but thatās specious and unlikely; I canāt remember a time where a young quarterback performed poorly in the preseason and was named the starter because he played well in practice. Tannehill and Wilson are winning their respective competitions because theyāve shown up during televised preseason games, which is silly. For decades now, baseball teams have held contests for starting jobs and roster spots in spring training and decided them upon how a player does in a 50-at-bat sample against pitchers who just want to go golf. Doing the same thing for football seems equally absurd.
In each case, thereās very little evidence outside of preseason performance suggesting that Tannehill and Wilson should start. Tannehillās a project, a big-armed guy who was statistically about a league-average quarterback in the Big 12 last season. His competition, Matt Moore, was about a league-average quarterback in the NFL last year. Two preseason games later, Tannehillās the better player? Thatās crazy. Wilson, meanwhile, is a third-round pick with impressive college statistics; the latter provides him more of a case than Tannehill, but thereās just no history of guys coming in from the middle rounds and starting on opening day. Since 1994, the only quarterbacks who have started as Week 1 rookies without being first-round picks were Kyle Orton (who inherited the job because of injuries and set his career back several years in the process), Chris Weinke (who was 29), Quincy Carter (who, um ā¦ Jerry Jones), and Andy Dalton (the normal one!). Wilson might very well be better than those guys, but the organization brought in Matt Flynn as a free agent; why pass on giving him a chance at the starting job when the games actually count?
The performance of those rookie quarterbacks who go straight into the fire tends to be pretty bad. Since 1994, the handful of guys who have done so have been dismal through their first four games, completing 55 percent of their passes, averaging six yards per throw, and offering up twice as many picks as touchdowns. Debuting players who werenāt rookies ā players like Philip Rivers and Carson Palmer ā have completed 60 percent of their passes, averaged seven yards per attempt, and thrown about 50 percent more touchdowns than picks. Similar statistics hold for veterans starting those same games. Teams using those debuting starters will undoubtedly have to take their lumps on offense.
That leaves the question of exposure; is it really wise for a team to stick their young quarterback under center and let him play? Perhaps it is. On the other hand, the decision to play their new guy from the first snap forces a team into an unenviable position. Once you make the decision to start the young guy, barring an injury, youāre stuck with him. It would be naive to ignore the importance of confidence in considering quarterback performance, and no coach worth their salt is going to run the risk of irreparably damaging their quarterbackās confidence by going back and forth between him and his backup during the season.
And once you do that, well, you run the risk of getting into a situation like the one the Jaguars experienced with Blaine Gabbert this past season. Like Tannehill, Gabbert was a first-round pick with a big arm who put up middling statistics during his final year in the Big 12. The Jaguars didnāt give him the start in Week 1, but Gabbert had the job by Week 3, and he scuffed his way through an atrocious season that led onlookers to wonder whether it was time to give up on the Mizzou product. Perhaps Gabbert will emerge all the better for it this year, but it seems unlikely. Did starting Gabbert really energize the Jaguars fan base, the way that the Dolphins hope Tannehill will excite theirs? Tannehill will almost certainly struggle mightily at the professional level as a rookie, and if the Dolphins decide that Moore gives them a much better shot at winning and being competitive, what do they do? Will the Seahawks really pass on turning to Flynn, who they gave $10 million in guaranteed money to, if Wilson has a bad game or two in September? And what will that do to Wilsonās confidence? What if Flynn struggles and they have to go back?
In virtually every scenario (Luck/RG3 situations aside), itās always better to start with the rookie on the bench and the veteran in the lineup for a few weeks. The veteran often provides better play, and if he struggles, then you get to give your team a shot in the arm by bringing in the talented young rookie after a few weeks of sitting on the bench and observing. Thereās a natural desire from the fan base for the young starter to come in. At the very least, itās a way to win some brownie points by looking āaggressiveā and making a change. Once you bring the rookie in, though, youāre stuck with him. The Dolphins are stuck with Ryan Tannehill, and itās probably going to cost them their shot at being competitive in 2012. Russell Wilson might end up being the best quarterback on the Seahawks roster, but theyāre almost surely better off giving Matt Flynn a chance to fail first.
There was another related article on that website which addressed the Cam issue and about how he was a different type of QB. I think the point of this one is that Flynn and Moore are more than adequate QBs and rushing in a rookie might not be the best option.
I highly recommend a read of Grantland and/or http://smartfootball.com/ (same content for this stuff)for some excellent analysis on specific plays and tactics.
Thanks for posting that Rocko, a good read. And tbh I agree with a lot of what the guy was saying, it makes a lot more sense to go with Flynn. But Wilson has lit up the place since heās been there and his performance last night against the Chiefs first string was superb, he scored on every drive!!
It will be a massive gamble for Pete Carroll starting him. Despite being in the top 30 richest people on earth, Paul Allen wonāt be impressed giving Flynn $10 million to ride the pine. A losing season with this scenario would be catastrophic for Carroll. But if he managed to find a genuine franchise QB in the 3rd whilst Washington was giving up the farm for RGIII and Miami spent an 8th overall on Tannehill then he will get major kudos and a possible extension. Itās a massive call.
I donāt think anybody (apart from Rocko) expected Cam to have such an amazing debut season though. Out of the five rookie quarter-backs starting the season as first choice iād be surprised if any of them came close to Newtons achievements
Newton had great statistics and was a fantasy football colossus. But Andy Dalton led his team to the play offs, something which tends to get overlooked.
Sky Sports have renewed their contract with the NFL. They will continue to show two games on a Sunday evening. Channel 4 have the late night game and ESPN have Monday night football. It seems to go down to the wire every season before the deal is renewed. Sky Sports will also be showing the opener between the Cowboys and the Giants tomorrow night.
Iām formally announcing my decision to end my successful association with the New York Football Giants. Iām supporting Philadelphia Eagles again from this point on.
Typical brinkmanship from fucking sky. I got a gamepass this year so couldnāt really give a bollix, but itās a very shabby way to treat your subscribers.
Could and should have been sorted long before the eve of the seasons kick off IMO. Maybe the NFL were stringing it out to sell more gamepasses . Great value it is this year it has to be said.